Upytė

Upytė is a small village in

Upytė was a capital of the Upytė region (Lithuanian: Upytės žemė) in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The area was later made into an eldership, part of the Principality of Trakai. A document from 1556 states that Panevėžys, along with 57 other towns and 359 villages was part of this eldership. In the 16th century, Upytė began to lose its prominence when the defensive castle became obsolete, and Krekenava became the capital of the Upytė Eldership in 1548. At that time, Panevėžys grew to become a center of economic importance and Upytė became eclipsed by this rival. Nevertheless, Upytė is one of the longest surviving regional capitals from earlier times.

The elders of Upytė included

According to a local legend the evil master Čičinskas was struck by thunder god

In 1938 archeologists excavated a graveyard near Upytė, dating from the 3-5th centuries, containing 51 graves of women, men, and children. The graves provided a number of findings: men's graves had iron tools and guns (bridles, axes, knives, etc.) and women's had bronze jewellery (bracelets, pins, pendants, beads, etc.)

References

• Simas Sužiedėlis, ed. (1970–1978). "Upytė".
  LCCN 74-114275
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• (in Lithuanian) "Upytė seniūnija," Panevėžys district municipality. Accessed 7 October 2006.
• Jonas Zinkus; et al., eds. (1988). "Upytė". Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Vol. IV. Vilnius, Lithuania: Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija. pp. 382–383.
• (in Lithuanian) Tomas Baranauskas, "Seniausios žinios apie Upytę," Voruta, No. 20 (566), 2 October 2004. Accessed 7 October 2006.
• (in Lithuanian) Dalia Greviškienė, "Upytės žemės 750 metų jubiliejus," Voruta, No. 13 (559), 9 July 2004. Accessed 7 October 2006.